Social media giants such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is facing a global outage and resulting log-in issues for users on Monday evening. 

While there is not enough clarity about the reason for the outage, a Facebook spokesperson said on Monday, “We are aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We are working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience”, according to reports from PTI.

The outage reportedly began around 11:45 ET (9:15 pm IST). So far, the company has not given any estimates about when the issue would be resolved. 

It is normal for websites and apps to suffer outages, though one on a global scale is rare. Users reported being unable to access Facebook in California, New York, Europe and India.

A technical snag was also experienced by other social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram. Moreover, reactions on platforms like Twitter indicate that the issue was not limited to the operating systems. Both iOS and Android users experienced the outage.

Facebook users were redirected to an error page with a message reading on the screen, saying that their browser could be connected. WhatsApp Web dished out a message saying “this site can’t be reached”. Incoming or outgoing messages on Whatsapp and Instagram were also blocked due to the outage.  

Commenting on the problem, Whatsapp tweeted: “We’re aware that some people are experiencing issues with WhatsApp at the moment. We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible.”

“Thanks for your patience!” the messaging app added.